This
paper is intended as an overview of the development and current
situation of Chinese Buddhism in Taiwan. The first part willoutlinethe historical
background. In the second part we will take a closer look at the
religious situation in Taiwan during the nineties, especially the
characteristics and the impact of the so-called “Four
big mountains” as well as some
peculiarities in the structure of the Taiwanese Sangha. The aim of
the third partis to highlight a few
important aspects of Taiwanese Buddhism and Buddhist studies. On thedoctrinal level there is the transition from the
“reformer monk” Taixu to his student Yinshun. This is in
many ways connected to the growth ofBuddhist
studies on the island. Finally, the CBETA-project serves as an
example for the many editorial activities in the Buddhist world on
the island.With the help of these examples
wewill see how Chinese Buddhism, a
tradition that has taken many blows during the past century, is
currently rebuild and redefined in Taiwan.

1.
Historical Background

Over
the last twenty years, Taiwanese scholars of Buddhism have <pb
n="123"/>studied the history of Buddhism on Taiwan in
some detail.[1]There arethree
main periods to consider:

1. Buddhism
in Taiwan before 1895.

2. Buddhism
in Taiwan during the Japanese occupation until 1945.

3.
Taiwanese Buddhism since 1945.

Before
the Japanese occupation, Buddhism in Taiwan did not differ much from
that in other provincial regions of South China. Under the Japanese
occupation, the situation became more complex. Buddhist institutions
were forced to associate themselves with Japanese sects while finding
and maintaining a Chinese Buddhist identity. After 1949 monks from
the mainland, who arrived in the wake of Chiang Kai-shek’s
retreat to Taiwan, reasserted and reformed Chinese Buddhism in the
island. It was, however,only after martial
law ended in 1987 that a period of pluralisationled
to a fast paced developmentofBuddhism in Taiwan.

1.1 Buddhism in Taiwan
before the Japanese occupation

During
the first period, from the first arrival of Buddhist monks until the
Japanese occupation in 1895, Taiwan was part of the Manchu-Chinese
empire. Taiwan appeared on the political landscape of Asia only in
the 17th century when the Dutch tried to incorporate
“Formosa” into
their colonial empire. In the wake of the collapse of the Ming
dynasty during the mid-seventeenth century, forces loyal to the Ming
drove the Dutch out, only to be ousted in turn by the Manchu forces
of the Qing dynasty. In the years between 1683 and 1895 Taiwan stayed
very much on the periphery of affairs; it was never more than a
distant outpost of the Qing empire. Only in 1887 was its status
upgraded from prefecture to province.

During
the Qing dynasty the situation of Buddhism in Taiwan was similar to
that of other backwaters in South China. Although the first known
monk on the islandarrived as early as
1675, the predominant form of Buddhism called zhaijiao
(“Vegetarian Teaching”) was largely independent from the
Sangha of monks and nuns. Zhaijiao, which comes in several different
sects, is a form of Folk-Buddhism that originated in the Ming dynasty
<pb n="124"/>with the
teaching of Luo Qing (1442-1527), the founder of the so-called
luojiao. Scholarship has not yet disentangled the complex
history of these sects, each of which is its own amalgam of Buddhism,
Daoism, Neo-Confucianism and local folk-religious beliefs.[2]Zhaijiao, which still
exists today, was organised by lay-people. The common denominator of
its different sects seems to be the adherence to a form of vegetarian
diet that also excludes certain vegetables.[3]Objectsof worship include bothBodhisattvas
and Daoist deities. The places of worship were deliberately not
called simiao but zhaitang (“Vegetarian Hall”)
to further emphasise their independence from orthodox Buddhism. It is
estimated that there were slightly more than hundred zhaitang on
the island at the end of the Qing dynasty.[4]

1.2.
Buddhism duringthe Japaneseoccupation

After
China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), Taiwan
fell to Japan in the treatyof Shimonoseki
and became itsfirst colony (second,if the Ryūkyū Islands are counted). The
Japanese carried out a wide range of economical and social measuresthat wereaimed at
turningTaiwan into apart
of a futureJapanese empire. Because of the
nearly totaljapanisation of the education
system, Japanese influence is present in certain aspects of Taiwanese
culture even today.

For
both orthodox Buddhism in Taiwan,as well
as for the Zhaijiao and Daoist sects,the
arrival of the Japanese led to great changes in the way religion on
the island was organised. During the first twenty years the colonial
rulers did not interfere in religious matters, but to their credit,studied the situation systematically. These
studies and surveys are today the most valuable and reliable source
for the study of the religious setting in 19th century
Taiwan. After an unsuccessful uprising connected with a Zhaitangtemple(the so-called
Xilaian shijian) in 1915, the Japanese attitude towards the
local religion changed and strong efforts were made to control
religious groups. Zhaijiao sects and Buddhist ordination lineages
alike had either to associate themselves <pb
n="125"/>with Japanese Buddhist sects or join
island-wide ‘patriotic’ associations[5]that were inspired or
co-founded by Japanese sects.[6]

Japanese
Buddhism entered Taiwan at the heels of the Japanese colonists. In
the early stagesof the occupation,when there were frequent revolts by ethnic Chinese
and aboriginal people, Japanese priests servedas
chaplains in the Japanese army. Later theycatered
to Japanese civilians that immigrated to Taiwan and finallytheystarted missionary
activities on a wider range aimed at both Chinese and aboriginal
Taiwanese. In the end, most Japanese Buddhist sects had
representatives in Taiwan and a survey shows that in 1941 65 Japanese
temples had been constructed since the start of the occupation.[7]The Sōtōand Rinzai schools deployed the highest numbers of
missionaries, but even so their efforts can hardly be called
successful. The number of Chinese devotees stayed negligible. After
fifty years of proselytising there were only about 28,000 Taiwanese
who were officially registered with Japanese Buddhist institutions.

While
during the first decades the attitude of the colonial government
towards religion was relatively tolerant, this too, changed when all
of Japan succumbed to thenationalistic
lunacy of the thirties. In the mid-thirties a “Japanisation
Movement” (kominka undo)
policy was formulated. For Taiwan this meantnothing
less than an all-out attempt to abolish Chinese language, culture and
tradition. The use of the Chinese languages was forbidden at school
and Japanese became the only medium of instruction. From 1938-1940
with a campaign called “temple restructuring”
(jibyo seiri) the Japanese rule turned into
full-fledged religious suppression, for restructuring effectively
meant the razing of the temple structures and the burning of
religious images. “Purely” Buddhist temples, however,
were mostly spared (their association with Japanese sects offered
some protection), though the same could not be said for Daoist
temples or Zhaitanghalls, and a large
number of those weredestroyed.

<pb
n="126"/>In spite of all the pressure the fifty years of
foreign rule also had its positive effects for Buddhism. The
tightrope-walk between official co-operation with Japanese Buddhism
and continued contacts with the mainland was also a creative process
from which Taiwanese Buddhism gained a sense of identity. During this
period a number of monks successfully developed traditional Chinese
Buddhism onTaiwan.[8]Through
their efforts, distinct ordination lineages were for the first time
established and more monks were ordained according to Chinese
ordination rites during the Japanese occupation than ever before.[9]

1.3 Taiwanese Buddhism
from 1945 to 1989

In line
with the terms of the Cairo Declaration (Dec. 1943) Taiwan was
returned to Chinese control after the allied victory. In October 1945
the Nationalist government in Chongqing dispatched Chen Yi as
governor, who ruled without any mandate from the Taiwanese and often
against their wishes. A revolt in February 1947 was ruthlessly put
down, and from that time on, it is appropriate to speak of the
government as a Nationalist regime that ruled Taiwan until its
peaceful transition to democracy in the late eighties.

After
Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Party lost the Civil War
(1946-1949) on the mainland, Taiwan was chosen as the safest retreat.
Among the 1.5 million mainlanders that fled to Taiwan in 1949-1950
(mainly the remainder of Chiang’s armyand
bureaucracy) there were also a few monks. Some had been drafted to
the army; some managed to travel via Hong Kong or devised other ways
of passage. Altogether not more than 100 monks, these men havenevertheless determined the course of Taiwanese
Buddhism until today. What set them apart from their Taiwanese
brethren was mainly their superior education. Almost half of the
group came from Northern Jiangsu that in those days was considered
the place in China where Buddhism was practised in its fullest form,
with large, public monastic centres and seminaries. Among those that
came to Taiwanweresomehighly respected elders who had served as abbots
in renowned monasteries.

<pb
n="127"/>To unify the various Buddhist associationsan umbrella organisation was first founded in
Nanjingin 1947. The Buddhist Association
of the Republic of China (BAROC) was to stay the main organisation of
Buddhism in Taiwan until the late eighties. It had a defacto
monopoly as the only official representative of Buddhism in Taiwan.
Crucially, every monk or nun, who wanted to go abroad, had to apply
for a travel-permit via the BAROC.

It
is possible to distinguish roughly between two groups among the
mainlanders. On the one side were the more reform-oriented monks whohad studied in Taixu’s (1889-1947)
seminaries on the mainland.[10]On
the othersidestoodthemajority of more
conservative minded clerics who saw no need to reform Chinese
Buddhism in general (although very much the Buddhism they found onTaiwan). During a meeting in 1955 the
conservatives, who by then had gained the backing of the Nationalist
Party, finally took over control of the BAROC.[11]This
position they have maintained until today, even though the influence
of the BAROC is now negligible.

Although
the Nationalist Party regime suppressed all forms of political
opposition, it displayed great laissez faire in other areas of
society and in generaldid not interfere in
religious activities. This made it possible for all religions,
especially Buddhism and Christianity, to establish firm roots in
society over the course of fifty years. Taiwan’s economic
success led to large donations, and the Buddhist Sanghain
Taiwan is extremely wealthy. Reliable figures are not available, butif the construction-boom is any measure, ready
moneyis definitely available. Since the
sixties many temples havebeen built,
renovated and enlarged to an extent that is certainly unique in the
Buddhist word of the 20th century.[12]The growing wealth of the
Sanghaalso
enabled it to get involved in charity work and the active
dissemination of the Dharma. During the four decades until 1990, both
profile and reputation of the Sanghain
society has been raised substantially. More and more monks have
acquired <pb n="128"/>higher
education, which not only strengthened their position as community
leaders,but alsoput
them atpar with the Christian
missionaries.[13]

The
BAROC was never a very popular organisation and played only a minor
role in the actual religious life of Taiwanese Buddhists, but it was
successful in its aim to expunge the Japanese influence from the
Buddhist Sangha. The crucial questions here were vegetarianism and
celibacy. Both principles were irrelevant to Japanese Buddhist
priests (who have been allowed to marry since 1876), but were
strictly adhered to by the Chinese monks and nuns.[14]

It
was also with the help of the BAROC, but mostly by founding their own
temples or seminaries, that the monks from the mainland and their
Taiwanese disciples over the years restructured and reformed
Taiwanese Buddhism towards greater unity and orthodoxy. This was
achieved mainly by two means: control over the ordination system and
the establishment of seminaries for members of the Sangha.[15]

By
virtue of their seniority and reputation, the mainland monks were
able to strengthen their Chinese form of Buddhist orthodoxy through
Dharma-talks,publicationsand
the able use of mass media.One issue that
reoccurred during the fifties and sixties was the worship of
non-Buddhist idols in Buddhist temples next to images of Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas.[16]This practice, which is
very common in Chinese Folk-Buddhism, has consequently almost
vanished in Taiwan. It is possible to find a Kuan-yin image in a
Daoist temple, but very few Buddhist temples in Taiwan would exhibit
a figure of,say,the Yellow Emperor.

<pb
n="129"/>

2. The Institutions of
Taiwanese Buddhism in the Nineties

Beforethe endof martial law
in 1987 social change in Taiwan was largely defined economically.After transition to democratic rule change
accelerated in all sectors of society.

In
the area of religion this led to greater diversity among religious
organisations. In Buddhism the unity that before, at least on the
surface, had been maintained by the BAROC gave way to a large number
of independent organisationsworking openly
according to their own characteristic viewsof
Buddhism. Taiwanese Buddhism today is characterised by a number of
the different traits.The most prominent
are the peculiar structure of the Taiwanese Sangha, the existance of
large independent organizations, and the growing presence of other
Buddhist traditionson the island.

2.1 The Structure of the
Sangha

No
single organisation in the history of Chinese Buddhism has ever
managed to become an overarching structure to the whole. There is not
one institution that spoke forall the
different communities and lineages. Coherence has been achieved
through different forms of bonding between generations in the Sangha,
that in function and terminology were similar to traditional Chinese
family relations. In Chinese Buddhism the aspiring nun or monk left
their families to enter a new family-like structure. The “hereditary
temple” (zisunmiao) was (with
exceptions) the basic unity of the structure of the Sangha.[17]In a
“hereditary temple” one undergoes the tidu-ordination.Here the master shaves the head of thediscipleto mark his or
her formal entry into the Sangha. By doing so the noviceenters a “temple family” of
“master-father” (shifu) and “master-brothers”
(shixiong). By accepting the guidance of one’s
tidu-master, one establishes a close relationship that
involves life-long, mutual responsibilities. The next step to full
monkhood is the full ordination (shoujie), ideally a large
public event that is explicitly not a temple <pb
n="130"/>affair, but involves the whole Sangha.
Again, the ordination masters and the participants enter into a
formal relationship, this time beyond the local level. Still another
way of bonding between Sanghagenerations
is bestowaland inheritance of “Dharma”
i.e. the permission to act as the next master.
This isespecially important for the Chan
schools, where the legitimacyof a monk’s
inclusion in the lineage often depended on having received the
“Dharma” from
the master. Though all three forms of bonding are still practised,
the individual members of the Sanghaare
better-educated and financially more independent thereby gaining
greater freedom to opt out of these traditional patterns.In
practice this means that today individual monks and nuns have much
more control over their life than ever before on Taiwan.

Another
important structural characteristic of the Taiwanese Sanghais
the large number of nuns in absolute and relative terms. Its overall
size can only be determined through the available ordination
records.[18]If one
adds the figures in the tables provided by Chern (1999) and compares
the differences, one arrives at a fairly reliable figure: between
1953 and 1999 some 17.000 monks and nuns were ordained on Taiwan.[19]All
available statistics agree that the number almost doubled in the last
fifteen years. [20]Nuns clearly outnumber
monks in a ratio of about 3:1. Their numerical strength as well as
the fact that many of the younger nuns have a university degree,
translates into growing empowerment and self-awareness.[21]Part of the bhikkhunīSanghahas started promoting a rethink of traditional
Vinaya practices, especially the double ordination and the eight
rules of respect that a nun is obliged to follow in her conduct
towards a monk (bajingfa).There <pb
n="131"/>are also a growing number of Buddhist
institutionsthat are exclusively for nuns,
like the Xiangguang Women Buddhist Seminary.

2.2 The “Four Big
Mountains”

All
these various ways of bonding that gave coherence and structure to
the Chinese Sangha for many centuries still have their place in
Taiwanese Buddhism until today. There is, however, another, perhaps
new, type of community that is largely based on the tidu-ordination,
but not exclusively so. These are the large Buddhist organizations
that are formed around a masterandthat are strongly involved with secular society
through various activities. Their problems are often similar to those
of large companies, and the huge amounts of donated money that pass
through them oftenthreaten to compromise
their Buddhist agenda. In Taiwan, the four largest of these
organisations are called the “Four Big Mountains”(sidashan).The
four are:

Foguang
Shanbased near Gaoxiong.

Zhongtai
Shan based in Puli.

Ciji
Foundation based in Hualien.

DharmaDrum Mountain (Fagu shan) in Taipei.

By
maintaining a high public profile, these organisations are without
doubt the most influential Buddhist movements in Taiwan, and merita short description. A visitor in Taiwan who is
interested in Buddhism is bound to come into contact with one or the
other of these groups. MostTaiwanese know
their names and the names of their founders(though
people oftenconfuse the names of Ven.
Zhengyan and Ven. Shengyan).

2.2.1
Foguang Shan

The
Foguang Shan Organisation,founded in 1967
by Ven. Xingyun (*1927),quickly became the
largest Buddhist group in South Taiwan. Xingyun was one of the first
members of the Taiwanese Sangha to promote the Dharma via TV and
Radio stations. Through his over 30 years on TV he is very well known
in Taiwan. He has come under criticism because of his involvement in
politicshowever. In the presidential
elections 1996, he energetically supported Chen Lu’an, a
candidate who ran on an explicitly Buddhist platform only to lose by
a wide margin. Xingyun had long developed strong relations <pb
n="132"/>with the Nationalist Party, especially
under the former president Lee Denghui.[22]

The
headquarters of Foguang Shan are quite impressive. In a park-like
setting the visitor finds huge halls, tall Buddha statues, a hostel,
a clinic, a museum, a small Pure-Land theme parkand
plenty of stalls that sell Buddhist souvenirs. The premises were
closed a few years ago for the general public after it became a
favourite recreation spot, but Buddhist groups still arrive in
busloads from all over Taiwan. Its burial grounds house50,000
urns, the lease of which is an important source of income for Foguang
Shan.[23]As the
other “Four Big Mountains” Foguang Shan has become an
island wide organisation. In 1997, 1100 nuns and 134 monks belonged
to the organisation, that is” went forth” with Xingyun as
ordination master and committed themselves to work in the
organisation.[24]In 1996 it had 51 temples
or centres on Taiwan.[25]As the
Ciji foundation, Foguang Shan aims at becoming a global player. Under
the name “Buddha’s Light International Association”
it has today more than 100 centres worldwide,[26]animpressive
figure for a religious organisation from a small island. Foguang Shanwasprobably the first
group of Chinese Buddhists to open a branch in Africa. Its
internationalisation in order to spread the Dharma is highly
ambitious, and they strongly promote their form of Buddhist
mission.[27]

2.2.2
Zhongtai Shan

Zhongtai
Shan too is attracting a large number of lay-followers, many of whom
are invited to join the Sangha. Statistics about Zhongtai Shan are
especially hard to get, but the community is believed to have close
to 1000 monks and nuns, albeit with high fluctuations.It
is therefore aboutthe same <pb
n="133"/>size as Foguang Shan. Its founder and
leader is Ven. Weijue (*1928), who was born in Sichuan. Like Xingyun
he is deeply involved in regional politics, although Zhongtai Shan in
general is less outgoing and not yet trying to internationalise.[28]In many
respects it is the most traditional “hereditary temple”
of the “Four Big Mountains.” All teachers in its college,
the Zhongtai fojiao xueyuan, which is only open to members of
the Sangha, are tudi-disciples of Weijue.

The
headquarters of the group near Puli in Central Taiwan is certainly
the most impressive and expensive Buddhist temple site on Taiwan. Its
Sanghahowever seemsto
play a less active part in society than those of the other three “Big
Mountains”. Nevertheless, in 1996 Zhongtai Shan had 40 branch
centres and temples and the aim is to create altogether 108 branch
centres on Taiwan.

2.2.3
Ciji (Tz’u chi) Foundation

Ven.
Zhengyan (*1937),one of the few ordination
disciplesof Ven. Yinshun,founded
her organisation in 1966. Among the community leaders Zhengyan
– as woman and Taiwanese – is the
exception. The leaders of the other three mountains, Xingyun, Weijue,
and Shengyan, were born on the mainland.

The
Ciji foundation canbe described as a
Buddhist philanthropic society that is deeply involved in charitable
works especially in the medical field. As such, it has been the
object of several studies.[29]In the
last20 years the Ciji Foundation has
became the largest religious organisation in Taiwan.[30]It
differs from the other three “Big Mountains” in that it
is not a Sangha-but a lay-organisation led
by a monastic. There are a small number of nuns involved, but most of
the responsibilitylies with the
lay-followers. These are often highlymotivated
professionals who areconvinced oftheir contribution to society.Over
the years, a hospital, a medical college and a nursing school werebuilt near the Ciji headquartersin
Hualian (East Taiwan), an area that previously lacked sufficient
medical facilities. The fund-raising successthat
made these projects possible is indeed amazing. In one incident, <pb
n="134"/>Ven. Zhengyan once refused the massive
sum of 200 millionUS $from
a Japanese donor, because she wanted the Taiwanese to contribute the
money themselves. Like Foguang Shan the foundation has a large number
of international offices that are, however, not mainly involved in
religious activities,but in relief efforts
and development aid.[31]The
foundation also has its own TV station called “Great Love”
(daai).

2.2.4
Dharma Drum Mountain

The
founder and leader of Dharma Drum Mountainis
Ven. Shengyan (*1930).Like Ven.Zhengyan he iswidely
known and respected.Shengyan came to
Taiwan as a member of Chiang Kai-shek’s army in whichhe
served as communication officer. After he returned to monastic life
in 1959, he practised under Ven. Dongchu (1908-1977).Between
1962 and 1966 he spentsometime
in solitary retreat. In 1969 Shengyan went to Japanto
study Buddhism atRisshō University.
When he got his PhD in 1975 for his Buddhist studies of late Ming
dynasty, hewas the first Chinese Buddhist
monk to achieve this,a fact that clearly
helped his career. Always an avid writer, he has published more than
90 books, fifteen of which were translated into English.

Dharma
Drum Mountain was founded relatively latein
1989. In 1997 it had65 nuns and 12
monks.[32]The
emphasis of Dharma Drum Mountain is the practice of Chinese Chan
meditation and the promotion of the academic study of all forms of
Buddhism. Chan retreatsof varying length
are offered to the general public, to providelay-people
with an opportunity to meditate.

Dharma
Drum Mountain’sbiggest contribution
isperhaps in the field ofBuddhist
education. Centrepiece of this effort is the Chunghwa Institute of
Buddhist Studies that was founded in 1985, and is now a
well-established institute in Taiwan. It is strongly involved in
international academic exchange, inviting foreign scholars to teach
and study. It has organised several national and international
conferences on Buddhism and during the last 15 years more than 400
graduate students received their training in advanced Buddhist
studies at the Institute. The faculty consists of a number of
renowned Buddhist scholars, although mostof
them teach only on a part-time basis.

<pb
n="135"/>The organisation is in the progress of moving
its headquarters as well as the Institute of Buddhist Studies from
Taipei to a larger site on Jinshan Mountain, 40 minutes north of
Taipei, where it plans to open a university college of
humanities.[33]First attempts have
been made to extend the reach of Dharma Drum Mountain
internationally, but so far there are only few centres outside
Taiwan.

The
organisational structure of the “Four Big Mountains” a
hybrid from between the large traditional temple estate and the
modern company raises many questions. Viewed as another example of
Buddhism trying to adjust to a new environment, it is probably too
early to say how they will continue their development as the standard
bearers Xingyun, Weijue, Zhengyan and Shengyan are still alive, a
certain stability seems guaranteed, but given their central
importance for the decision- making process, it is a mere guesswork
how the situation will change when these four individuals (nowin their sixties and seventies) are gone.

The
stance these organisations will take vis-à-vis a changing
secular society on issues of gender, politics, economy, education and
last not least Buddhist doctrine, will stronglyinfluence
the future of Chinese Buddhism.

2.3. Other forms of
Buddhism in Taiwan

During
the last decade Buddhistson Taiwan have
opened their doors to other forms of Buddhist practice,in
particular Tibetan Buddhism. In Taiwanese society today great
religious tolerance is paired with curiosity and readiness to
experiment with spiritual practices. Nowonder
Tibetan Buddhism that was forced to ‘adopt
a global attitude’in the fiftieswas given a friendly welcome. It did not come as a
complete stranger. Esoteric Buddhism had once been part of Chinese
Buddhism and the Tibeto-Mongolian Lamaism that was promoted under the
Qingdynasty was similar enough to Tibetan
Buddhism to allow a certain familiarity. The success of Tibetan
Buddhism in Taiwan has already attracted the attention of
researchers.[34]

To
date there are more than30 Tibetan Centres
in Taipei alone. Some of these haveresident
teachers, while some groups only convene when <pb
n="135"/>their teacher visits. These teachers are
coming to Taiwan on a regular basis to give teachings. The Dalai Lama
himself visited twice, the last time in 2001. According to
knowledgeable sources, Taiwan has become an important source of
revenue for many Tibetan monasteries in India, Nepal and Bhutan. The
contributions must run to several million US every year,though it is impossible to calculate them
exactely.The reaction of the Chinese
Buddhist Sangha is generally begin, considering that the situation is
indeed one of competition for devotees and resources between two
clearly distinguishable forms of Buddhism. There is the occasional
negative comment or attack in the field of doctrine, but, as far asone can assess from the outside, there are in
general no objections to the fact that the Tibetan Buddhists are
increasingly activein Taiwan. However, the
so-called inter-religious or inter-confessional dialogue, much touted
in the Christian world (and in fact invented there)is
almost absent. The Chinese Buddhist associations hardly communicate
with each other, much less so with other denominations. An exception
is Ven. Shengyan, who held highly publicised and amiable talks with
the Dalai Lama during his first visit.Also
the Chunghwa Institute of Buddhist Studies runsan
exchange program, under whichseveral
Tibetan lamas come to study at the institute every year. The Chunghwa
Institute has also organised two cross-straits academic conferences
on Buddhist education, which, given the political climate, is major
success.

Theravada
Buddhism, generally the ‘shiest’ among the three great
traditions, is much less representedin
Taiwan. There are a Thai and a Burmese temple in Taipei, but it seems
mainly to cater to the overseas communities of these countries. In
1998, the Goenka school of Vipassana has established a centre near
Taizhong in Central Taiwan. It is running strong and offers courses
throughoutthe year.

Japanese
Buddhism, in Taiwan somewhat discredited by its missionary activities
during the occupation, does not seem to be even a minor player
anymore. There are, however, strong academic contacts between the two
countries in the field of Buddhist studies.

3. Current Doctrinal and
Academic Developments on Taiwan

3.1.
The influence of Yinshun

Ven.
Yinshun (1906*)is without doubt the
scholar-monk that has exercised the greatest influence on the
doctrinal development of Chinese Buddhism <pb
n="137"/>during the second half of the 20th
century. Yinshun has reached an unprecedented large audience among
Chinese Buddhist and has served as bridge between the academic
community and the religious world of Buddhist devotees.

His
academic or semi-academic writingscontinuethe paradigm-shift towards amore
academically acceptableview of Buddhism
doctrine and historythat his teacher Taixu
(1889-1947) had started but left largely unfinished. Yinshun,
together with Lü Cheng and Tang Yongtong, has laid the
groundwork for the academicstudy of
Buddhism in China. He inspired a large number of contemporary Chinese
Scholars, most of who read Yinshun’s works early in their
career. Yinshun can be considered the first member of the Sangha who
seriously entered the academic discourse on Buddhism. His work was
recognised internationally when the TaishōUniversity
(Kyoto) awarded him a PhD of honours in 1973. Between his Yindu
zhi fojiao [Indian Buddhism] (1942) and the publication of his
last major work in 1989, in which he returned to the same topic,
Yinshun’s output was prolific. His works are widely read in
Taiwan, China and among the overseas Chinese. Chinese Buddhistsstill consider them as an authoritative standard,
albeit a slightly outdated one.

Yinshun
has also written a large number of popular works that aim to explain
Buddhism in more rationalistic terms than the religious discourse of
traditional Buddhismusually does. Moreover
his concept of “Buddhism of the Human Realm (renjianfojiao),” also taken from his teacher and further
modified, has become one of the leading doctrines in the practice of
Taiwanese Buddhism.

Here
we will sketch the main fault line that separates Yinshun’s
view of Buddhism from that of his teacher Taixu. It is here, I
believe, that Chinese Buddhist thought underwent its most profound
change in the 20th century. Crucial to an understanding of
this are their respective “hierarchies of teachings”
(panjiao).[35]Both
Taixu and Yinshun modified the way they presented their systems over
the years of their writing and grouped the <pb
n="138"/>different Buddhisttraditionsin various ways. Herewe
canconsider only a small segment of their
panjiao.[36]

Taixu’s
main argument concerning the Mahāyāna schools was that,
what today is called the Tathāgatagarbhaline
of thought, should be considered as the highest teaching. This
teaching of “Perfect enlightenment” he claimed, included
and surpassed the two other remaining theories, i.e.Yogācāra
and Madhyamaka. Although widely considered a reformer,
Taixuagrees inthis
respectwith mainstream Chinese Buddhism
from the Song dynasty onward and places himself squarely in the camp
of the dharmadhātuvādin,whose
views are the bone of contention in the discussions about Critical
Buddhism.[37]

Yinshun’s
approach differsfrom that of Taixu in
several respects. In this question in particular he turns, if not the
tables on his teacher, certainly his table upside down. Hisinterpretationof the
fieldis that Madhyamaka should be
considered the purest form of Mahāyāna, its “true
meaning (zhengyi).” In Yinshun’sranking
the Tathāgatagarbha tradition is the least important, the least
true:

1.
Empty Nature, Name Only (Madhyamaka)

2.
Illusion, Consciousness Only (Yogācāra)

3.
True and Eternal, Mind Only (Tathāgatagarbha)

As
in his understanding of the truth value of the Mahāyāna
Schools,Yinshundisagrees
with mainstream Chinese doctrine alsoin
the assessment of the role of early Buddhism as found in the Chinese
ĀgamaSūtras. His
appraisal of the Āgamas led to a more extensive reception
of the early <pb n="139"/>scriptures
among Taiwanese Buddhists. Though Yinshunnever
mastered any foreign language heinsisted
in hisresearch on Indian Buddhism. All his
major academic works, except one, are on Pre-Mahāyāna or
Early Mahāyāna Buddhist doctrine in India. He clearly
considers early Indian Buddhism, especially early Mahāyāna
thought, to be superior to Chinese forms of Buddhism. This
constitutes a significantbreak with the
Chinese tradition.

3.2
Academic developments

I
will focus on two main points: one is the fast growth of Buddhist
scholarship in Taiwan during the nineties. The second is the
digitalisation and free distribution of thecompleteChinese Tripitaka by the Chinese Buddhist
Electronic Text Association (CBETA).

Prof.
Lan Jifu kept track of the number of academics working in Buddhist
studies on Taiwan,while contributing some
valuable tools for the study of Chinese Buddhismhimself.[40]According tohim,in 1993 there were only 60 scholars in Taiwan who
had specialised in Buddhism. Out of these twelve held a PhD from
foreign universities (7 from Japan, 5 from the U.S.) another 12 got
their PhD in Taiwan. Most Buddhist Scholars lacked training in
canonical languages other than Chinese,because
Sanskrit, Pali and Tibetan werenot taught
in Taiwan.[41]Duringthe
eighties Buddhist studies hadgrown, but
were still far from popular, not least because the chances of getting
a university position as scholar with a specialisation in Buddhism
were meagre.

During
the nineties the mood has changed. With the improvement of the image
of the Sangha in public, the academic study of Buddhism too, has
gained some prominence. Today more than 300 scholars are working in
the field of Buddhist studies, many of them specialising in Southern
(Pali) or Northern (Tibetan) Buddhism. There is an intensive exchange
and co-operation between university departments and Buddhist <pb
n="140"/>institutes, and many teachers teach in
both institutions. A large number of projects and conferences are
organised in co-operation between public and religious institutions,
something that would have been a rarity 20 years ago. To give but one
example, the “Digital Buddhist Library and Museum,”that was started as a joint project ofNational Taiwan University and Dharma Drum
Mountain,has become one of the central
clearing houses for Chinese Buddhism on the web.[42]

3.2.2The digitisation of the Chinese Tripitaka

In
February 1998 a group of researchers met in Taipei under the auspices
of the Centre for Buddhist Studies at the National Taiwan University
and createdthe Chinese Buddhist Electronic
Text Association (CBETA)under the
leadership of Professor Ven. Hengjing and Ven. Huimin. The immediate
aim was to digitise the Chinese Tripitaka and distribute it free of
charge. For that purpose CBETA received the copyright for electronic
publication from the Japanese publishing house that produces the
standardTaishō edition.[43]Though the scope of the
project was challenging, the work was completed successfully in only
three years. Today a CD on which the Taishō volumes 1-55 &
85 are available in different formats is distributed by CBETA. These
volumes comprise all texts by Indian and Chinese authors in the
Chinese canon.

The
digitisation of the Chinese script is comparatively more difficult
than that of texts in an alphabetical language.The
most immediate problem was how to cope with the many so-called
‘missing characters” (quezi) that are not
available in any of the current fonts. Various strategies had to be
devised to make sure the user of the digital version can view even
the strangest version of a Chinese character exactly as it appearedin print. The “missing characters”
weredescribedin
co-operation with the Mojikyō Project.[44]For the
digitisationCBETA used a XML compatible
mark-upthe standard developed by the <pb
n="141"/>Text Encoding Initiative (TEI), which
has proved to bea suitable solution. As a
result the digital version of the Chinese canonis
now extremely flexible and it is e.g. possible to link different the
originalwith other Tripitakas, different
versions of one Tripitaka, translations or even research papers.

Thechallenge of digitising the Buddhist canonical
scriptures has to be seen in the larger context of thecommunication revolutionwe
areexperiencing. As our understanding of
what a “text” is slowly changes with the advent of
digital text, it is obvious – though not widely discussed –
that Buddhist studiesandthe
humanities in general will be deeply influenced by these changes. For
the time being we might still look at a CD as a digital copy of some
authoritative book. Soon, however,books
may become a printedsnap-shotof
a digital “text”, whichin turn
will be more open, more complex and (hopefully) more accessible than
any of our canons were in the past. This is, however, not only a
technological question, but also something to be willed and decided
on a social and political level. The current trend in the
interpretation of copyright for instance, is neither in the interest
of the public nor the author, but heavily skewed towards the purely
financial interests of media corporations. If this trend continues,
the chance to greater freedom and availability of information will be
wasted. Nevertheless there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic
about the changes the age of digital text will bring. Among other
things, one consequence that is to be expected is a certainempowerment of the reader.Because
digital text, once produced, needs but a computer to be stored, used
and developed, its potential availability is far greater than that of
books. Since our work is usually financed by the public, it is part
of our academic responsibility to make the results available to as
many people as possible. The trouble is that the usual way of
publication via expensive journals and books makes sure that a
majority of the world’s population will not be able to access
the results of our research. Digital publication, rightly used, might
contribute to diminish the information inequality that mars global
society just as deeply as economic inequality for which it is
partially responsible.[45]

<pb
n="142"/>

4.
Conclusion

From
the above one can see that Taiwan has emerged as a centre of Buddhism
as well asofBuddhist
studies. For now, Taiwan is a place where
Chinese Buddhism is, allowed to seek its own path into
so-called modernity. Free,after many
centuries of governmental control and Confucian hegemony, Chinese
Buddhism on Taiwan has again found a favourable environment to
prosper and develop.

[5]There
were a number of these associations (Jones (1999), 66-80). The most
important beingthe South Seas Buddhist
Association (Nanying fojiao hui) that represented the most
comprehensive Japanese approach to organize Buddhism in Taiwan. It
was hardly more than an agency of the colonial government, its
newsletter, however, became the main organ for a comparatively open
discourse on Buddhism in Taiwan.

[6]The
Buddhist Youth Association for example was steered by Ōishi
Kendō, the chief of the Taiwan branch of the Sōtō
School.

[12]There
are no reliable statistics as to the number of temples.LanJifu(Lan (1991),23)mentions850
temples in 1960 compared to 4020 in 1990.Wang
Shunmin(Wang(1995),
322) has counted 1264 temples for the year 1977 and 2060 for 1993.

[13]Christian
missionaries of all sects had started proselytising in Taiwan right
after the retrocessionand are extremely
active until today.The role of the
Christian “other” in the
development of 20th Buddhism is oftenunderstated.
The trend towards a socially engagedBuddhism,
usually attributedto Buddhist thinkers
like Taixu or Yinshun (s.b.), is also in part, an adoption of
Christian missionary methods.

[14]There
are clear parallels between the situation in Taiwan and Korea. The
Korean Sangha too successfully restored its former Vinaya practices
after the Japanese capitulation (though, it seemswithmore difficultythan in
Taiwan).

[15]For the
first see Günzel (1998), Ch.3, for the latter Ch.4 and here
below.

[17]I
follow Welch’s translation (1967), 261-281. Cf. Günzel
(1998), 38-45. It is called “hereditary” because temple
assets are in fact inherited and controlled by a strictly defined
group. This differed from the large so-called conglin-temples
that belonged to the Sangha as a whole. In the conglin system
ideally the abbots were elected. One could not enter the order by
way of a tidu-ordination to prevent the development of
relationships,asthey
existed in a hereditary temple.

[18]It
seems no one has done this so far. The printed version of the Annual
Statistical Yearbook of the Interior does not give afigure
at all. While from time to time one hears figures of up to 30000,
the upper limit of 17000 for 1999 based on the ordination figures is
actually the only hard number we have.

[19]To
calculate the number of nuns and monks more accuratelyone
would have to account for the following unknowns: monastics who died
before 1999, monastics who returned to lay-life, and the few
monastics whowere ordained outside
Taiwan. In the early fifties before the BAROC ordinations there were
an estimated 2000 monks and nuns on Taiwan (not including the
Zhaijiao nuns). The population of Taiwan is c.22 Mill.

[20]There
have been several studies in English of the topic. Chern (2000) and
Li (2000) are the most recent.

[26]According
to their own website (http//blia.org). This is up from 63 centres in
1996 (Günzel (1998), 119n). The headquarters of Buddha’s
Light International are in the large Hsi-lai temple near San
Francisco.

[27]There
is a recent dissertation(Chandler (2000))on Foguang Shan’sattempt
to globalisation.

[28]Presently
(2002) their website (http//www.ctworld.org.tw)has
no English page, and, though nicely designed, is not very
informative.

[34]The
first symposiumon Tibetan Buddhism in
Taiwan was held in autumn 2001 at the Academia Sinica, Taipei. On
Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan see also Lan (1994).

[35]Panjiao
isan important feature ofChinese
Buddhism since its introduction from India. It is usedto
organize the variety of Buddhist schools that came to China into a
coherentwhole. At the same time the
author of the panjiao-hierarchy uses his model to strengthen the
claim to orthodoxy of his own school.

[36]For an
extensive treatment of Yinshun’s position in Chinese Buddhism
see my dissertation on Yinshun (forthcoming 2004).

[37]Dhatuvāda
is a neologism coined inthe debateonCritical Buddhism in
Japan that was started by Hakyama Noriaki and Matsumoto Shiro.For a thorough presentation of the state of the
discussion see Hubbard & Swanson (1997).

[43]The
late Prof. Ejima (Tokyo University) contributed greatly to the
success of these negotiations.

[44]The
Mojikyo team has been working on the digitisation of CJK characters
for a long time and its numbering system has become a standard in
the field. The project, however, has lost some of its lustre with
the arrival of Unicodeand certain
proprietary changes.

[45]Nobel
Prize winners George Akerlof, Michael Spence, and Joseph Stieglitz
coined the term “asymmetric information.” Their work has
had great influence on development economics, where the link between
economical and informational poverty plays a significant role in
analysis.